Egypt: The dictatorship mentality

By GUEST BLOGS
(By Ahmed Meligy, Alexandria, Egypt)  
On November 14th Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy proposed the document of principles regarding the making of a new Constitution. The Media calls it the "Al Selmy Document." This document mainly states that the military budget and decisions belong only to the Supreme Military Council, and that the budget details would not be audited or revised by anyone outside the military institution. It also gives the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) absolute power in the decision making process.
Citizens suspected that Al Selmy indirectly proposed the draft on behalf of the ruling military council.
All the Factions across the Egyptian political spectrum, from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists to secularist el-Ghad Party, rallied in a million-man march in Tahrir Square on Friday November 18th. They were demanding that the legislation proposed by Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy be withdrawn.
At the end of the rally, a few thousand activists decided to camp at Tahrir Square until their demands were met, prompting a violent move by military police and security forces to evict the area. The move resulted in deadly clashes and escalated the situation to a point where there were massive calls for the removal of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
That was the sum-up of the reason behind what has been happening in Egypt.
What the military generals can`t fully understand is that Egypt`s youth will never submit to a dictator rule ever again. The main problem with the dictatorship mentality is that every dictator thinks he can control the masses easily using national TV to brainwash people. It''s 2011, Egypt`s youth are using the internet and they now know what democracy and freedom really are. That`s why we hit the streets all around the country asking for the removal of the SCAF from ruling Egypt and letting us, for the first time in Egyptian history, be free to choose who will lead us .
I joined the protests in Alexandria on the 20th, 21st & 22nd of November. We were protesting in Semouha District, where the police main headquarters are. I volunteered, along with two good doctors, to help create a field hospital so we would be able to take care of the injured. During the clashes, I witnessed two young men die from a new type of teargas used by the armed forces.  I have seen many young men lose an eye due to rubber bullets being fired on them.
The police were very brutal and very sadistic towards the protesters. We were treated as if we are an invading army, as if we weren`t from this country.  They were shooting tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at whomever would be passing by, and they did it from their armored cars.
They took down our make-shift hospital tent and threw away our medical tools and bandages. Then they started beating me and the two doctors with no mercy. We sustained many injuries caused by rubber bullets and by being hit on the head with sticks.
There is another thing that the dictatorship mentality can`t get. It is the fact that the more violent their soldiers will get, the more determined the protestors will be.
I won''t and can''t forget my fellow protestors who were injured and covered in blood who begged me not to send them to a hospital. They wanted to get back to the streets. They had no fear at all, no matter what their injuries were. Most of them are college graduates who sacrificed their eyes and their lives for one thing only – FREEDOM.
What happened in these protests made us fight the authorities even more and it created a lack of trust about anything they promise us.
We will not back down again even if it will cost us our lives.
This dictatorship rule must end.
Ahmed Meligy, 31, is a peace activist from Alexandria, Egypt.